


Resonance

by DawnWave



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Author Is Sleep Deprived, Character Bashing, Childhood Friends, F/M, Gen, Strong Marinette Dupain-Cheng, class salt, ml salt, no idea what happened, xanxus has a heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-18
Updated: 2020-01-18
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:41:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22308826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DawnWave/pseuds/DawnWave
Summary: What if Xanxus had a friend before he was adopted?  What if that friend was Marinette?  What if Marinette had secrets of her own?  Find out!*I am sleep deprived and have no idea what I wrote, please forgive me :)
Relationships: Xanxus/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 10
Kudos: 272





	Resonance

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, so I wrote this and had NO idea what to call it. Um, enjoy? *Throws story at you and runs away to hide*

When Tom and Sabine had started dating he had been surprised to find that he wasn't the only one with Italian blood. Despite her looks, Sabine was only half Chinese. She had been born in France because her mother was French, however, Sabine was the result of a sperm donation. While her mother had never looked into it, Sabine had met the doctor when she was a teenager and he had admitted that she was the result of a prank he had pulled on two of his friends while drunk. Her embryo had been made by mixing her mother's egg with the DNA of two men who went by the names Reborn and Fon. Apparently, he had thrown in a little of a man called Colonnello but it hadn't been enough to make any impact on her.   
  
Verde, for that was the doctor's name, had vanished soon after that conversation and she hadn't been able to find out any more information on what he had done. Sabine didn't understand how he had managed to mix the DNA of four different people, nor did she want to if she was honest. All he had told her was that Reborn and Colonnello were Italian and Fon was Chinese. With her mother being a Chinese woman who lived in France Sabine felt like she didn't know how she would identify her heritage anymore. In the end, she had decided to say she was French – Chinese and leave the Italian as a secret from everyone except whomever she married.  
  
With Tom being French- Italian it made sense that they would visit Italy every so often. They kept up this habit even after the birth of their daughter, Marinette. Marinette loved the visits to Italy and would run all over chasing pigeons when she was young. By the time she was six, she had fallen in love with designing and would often run off to sketch whatever had caught her attention at that moment. It was on one of those little escapes of hers that Tom and Sabine managed to lose sight of her as she ran past a slow-moving tourist group. By the time the group had passed, Marinette was nowhere to be seen.   
  
Unknown to them a little boy with blood-red eyes and black hair was what had caught her attention. By the time Marinette realised that her parents would be frantic with worry, she and Xanxus were firm friends. She told him how often they visited Italy and they promised they would meet up again the next time that she visited. Despite the scolding Marinette got when she met up with her parents again, she couldn't wait to see her new friend the next day. She warned them that she had made a friend and that he was shy. He was only a year older than her but from their conversation, she understood he had good reason to not trust adults so she lied and just said he was shy to her parents. They didn't push for any further details as at least they knew she was safe and Marinette was able to spend the rest of her holiday with him. When it came time for them to head back to Paris Marinette had her parents write out their address so that they could try to write to each other.   
  
They didn't write to each other that year, nor the following one as at the ages of eight and nine, they couldn't really write too well. Something had changed for Xanxus by the time he turned ten though. He had apparently been found by his biological father and taken to live with him. He hated the man and those who worked for him but he did like his Nonna, so there was that at least. His Nonna was working on his reading and writing skills, as well as starting to teach him some more languages. His Nonna had been stunned when he had slipped into French for the first time around her and when he had reluctantly explained how he knew the small amount of French that he did, she had encouraged him to learn more and to keep up the friendship.  
  
By the time Marinette was thirteen, the month-long Italian holiday was the highlight of her year. The two of them were still firm friends and Xanxus had taken to couching her in hand to hand fighting. He had also kick-started her drive to learn more languages and they often bounced between them as they spoke, which had become much easier once they both had cellphones. She knew he was often busy so they had set up a system where a coded text was sent and the other answered with the corresponding code as to whether they were able to talk at the time or not. When Marinette took on the role of Ladybug, she had those texts, and those texts alone forwarded to her yo-yo.   
  
It was during a fight that Marinette noticed that her yo-yo seemed to gain a pale orange glow on occasion, almost as though it was on fire. She also noticed that the orange was streaked with yellow oddly enough blue. She spoke to Xanxus about the flames and he made her promise to not tell anyone else about them. As he was extremely insistent about her staying quiet she did as he asked and kept it a secret. Sadly they didn't get to see each other that year as, thanks to Hawkmoth, her family didn't make their annual trip to Italy.  
  
When Lila first joined Marinette's class she had looked at everyone in the class and decided that her target would be Marinette. She tried to act nice and friendly but Marinette had seen through her act and called out her lies as though they were obvious. If Lila had thought Marinette would fall in line after she threatened her though, she was wrong. It soon became clear that Marinette would fight her every step of the way, refusing to bow to Lila's lies and not willing to let everyone else believe them without thinking about what was being said. She had no idea that Marinette secretly recorded every single one of their interactions with Tikki's help.   
  
Still, it had been two years since she had joined the class and Marinette was sick and tired of having to fight every day. She had the verbal and mental battles at school with Lila, she had more physical battles against the Akumas as Ladybug and the worst fight in Marinette's opinion was the constant fight against Chat Noir. Although the public didn't know it Chat Noir was worse in private then he was when there were Akuma attacks. He only flirted, made stupid puns and threw the occasional temper tantrum when he knew the world was watching. In private though, that was another story, he would usually start by practically demanding that she kiss him and when she refused he got downright violent. He had tried to use 'Cataclysm' on her once but Plagg had intervened and blocked his ability to use any of the Black Cat's abilities out of battle.   
  
She had gone to Master Fu to try to get him to change who had the ring but he had refused to help her. Tikki and the other Kwamis had been furious but there was nothing they could do until Fu had taught Marinette absolutely everything he could about being a guardian. She had been the one to insist they use a password to protect the scans of the grimoire that she had found. She had also insisted that the scans and translations be stored not on the tablet itself but on an SD card that was easy to remove and hide. Thanks to these protections being in place Marinette didn't feel guilty when she slipped up and led Hawkmoth to Master Fu, nor when it resulted in 'Miricle Queen' and her becoming the guardian properly.  
  
With Marinette as the guardian things became more complicated yet simpler at the same time. Simpler as she didn't have to run to Master Fu whenever she needed back up, yet simpler because she could share her secret if she wished too. So share it she did, with the one person she shared everything with, Xanxus, her long-time friend from Italy. It turned out to be a good thing that she chose to share the knowledge with her now feather bedecked friend as it stopped him from making the mistake of faking an attack against his adoptive father, turning it into a prank war as an exercise for his mooks instead. Marinette was willing to admit she did quite a few jumps between Italy and France with Kaalki's full support when she heard what had happened to him.  
  
It turned out that be revealing her secret to him when combined with her flames gave him just the right amount of leeway to tell her his own secrets without getting into trouble. She now had a name for her flames as well as proper training for them. Marinette had thought that Tikki would have been upset by the fact that her closest friend was part of the mafia but Tikki had been fine with it. It turned out that one of her past holders had been part of the mafia too, in fact, she was the very woman that Xanxus called Nonna. Now that Xanxus knew that Marinette was constantly in danger he had upped her training so that she could defend herself from just about anything that came her way. Marinette had spoken to Tikki after one such training lesson about whether or not Xanxus was her true black cat and was unsurprised that he was despite the fact that he was basically a dragon in human form.  
  
On the evening of Marinette's sixteenth birthday, Tom and Sabine called her down to the lounge. At first, Marinette had thought that she was in trouble as they looked uncommonly serious but then they started to explain Sabine's heritage. How she only knew the names of her fathers but had no idea as to what they were like, nor what they looked like. Like her parents, Marinette was confused as to how Sabine basically had three father's but what set off alarm bells in Marinette's mind was when Sabine mentioned the name of the doctor followed by the names of the three men that the doctor had used. Marinette recognised the names from taking to Xanxus, Squalo, Mammon and Luss. After all, how could one forget the names of four of the Arcobaleno? Marinette's parents had been shocked when she had gone pale at the names given but Marinette had refused to answer their questions as to why.   
  
Later that evening Marinette ported over to the Varia headquarters and stalked to the Mist Officers room. Xanxus and Mammon looked up in alarm as she shut the door behind her and in a voice that she was clearly trying very  
hard to control asked Mammon if it was possible for them to use a mist corridor to bring Luss into the room before she started speaking. Once Luss joined them Marinette let out a big sigh and repeated what her parents had just told her before asking for the appropriate DNA tests to be done to check if it was true. While they were all understandably shocked, they agreed that this was the best course of action. Luss ran a quick version through the Varia systems while Mammon organised for the tests to be done at the three companies that the Varia always used when this type of thing happened. Xanxus simply wrapped his arms around his friend and secret crush, holding her to give her the reassurance she seemed to want. She had had to leave in the morning but the once bi-weekly encoded skype call was now a daily occurrence unless she was in the middle of an Akuma fight.   
  
A month later and Marinette was ready to scream. It seemed like Chat Noir had decided to stop worrying if his actions towards Ladybug were seen by the public or not and worst of all the public seemed to openly support his sexual harassment of Ladybug. Marinette had set up several talks about sexual harassment at school over the past few years but it seemed like no one cared that what he was doing fit all of the red-flag categories. Alya was openly criticising Ladybug on the Ladyblog, saying she should stop being so cold to chat and just accept his advances. Marinette had been so upset by that, that she had snapped.   
  
“And why should she, Alya? If Chat were treating you that way would you 'just accept him'? Or would you give your sisters the same advice?”  
  
Alya looked stunned. While she and Marinette were no longer as close as they once were, they were still fairly good friends. Sure she had often argued with Marinette about 'LadyNoir' as Alya had dubbed the couple but she hadn't thought Marinette would ever snap at her like that.  
  
“Marinette, the two of them have been a couple for years! You can't tell me that she doesn't like the fact that he wants to show the world how he feels about her. It's so sweet!” Alya argued.  
  
“Besides, you know I'm her bestie. She'd have told me if they weren't a couple.” Lila pipped up from her seat at the back.  
  
“So the fact that Ladybug has denied that they are a couple in every single interview means nothing to you? Her feeling should just be pushed aside?” Marinette's voice was coloured by total disbelief as she spoke.   
  
“Oh, come on Marinette.” Adrien interjected suddenly “Ladybug knows she and Chat Noir are soul mates, she's just being stubborn.”  
  
Marinette froze. She had heard that argument way too many times from Chat Noir, both as Ladybug and as Marinette when he stopped on her balcony to moan. Adrien was Chat Noir. Suddenly she was very glad that she had never allowed anyone to know about the tiny crush she'd had on Adrien all that time ago. She took a deep breath then slowly let it out, looking at all of her classmates in turn.  
  
“I'm glad I wasted my time organising all the talks we've had on harassment over the last two years. I know you might judge me negatively but if you say that the way Chat Noir is behaving is appropriate then I hope that you are on the receiving end of it from whoever you least want it from. Maybe if you experienced that fear for yourself while everyone else condemns you for not wanting to return their feelings, you might feel a fraction of what Ladybug feels every time Chat Noir treats her that way.” Marinette fell silent as the class stared at her in horror.   
  
“Voi! I've seen the video's of what that idiot cat is doing to your city's hero and every single male I work with would happily skin him alive for his actions!” A loud voice exclaimed from behind Marinette all of a sudden. It said a lot about Marinette that she didn't jump. Instead, she threw her pen as hard as she could at where the voice came from.  
  
“VOI! You've been hanging around the boss for too long, little Cielo.” Marinette turned to face the man that she had just thrown a pen at, a small smirk on her face when she saw Xanxus behind him.  
  
“What was that, shitty shark?” Xanxus growled making Squalo jump as he hadn't remembered that his Sky was behind him.   
  
Thankfully Xanxus had spoken in Japanese when he swore, as had Squalo when he spoke directly to Marinette, as Marinette didn't feel like dealing with the fallout from Mlle Bustier about his language. Not that anyone could do anything about it as Xanxus didn't care what anyone except his Nonna thought of him. He cared for people in his own way but when it came to people he just didn't care.   
  
Mlle Bustier frowned at the two boys standing in the doorway of her classroom. She didn't like the look of them. One had long silver hair and only one had, the other looking like it was a prosthetic of some sort. The other had longish black hair with feathers of all things braided into it, as well as red eyes that made her shudder. It seemed like both of them had scars but to Caline Bustier's instincts, they both screamed danger and made her want to get as far away from them as possible.  
  
“Who might you be and why are you standing in the doorway to my classroom?” She asked with a frown.  
  
“Oh they friends of mine from when I-” Lila started, causing Marinette to roll her eyes. She could see the class start to frown at her but it seemed that hearing Lila try to lie about them had flipped a switch that Xanxus had been keeping tight control of. He stalked into the classroom and, giving Marinette ample opportunity to move away if she wanted to, kissed her firmly.  
  
“Dammit Boss! You couldn't have waited another month before you did that? Or better yet, done that a month ago on her birthday?” Squalo squawked in complaint. The problem was this time he spoke in French and the whole class understood him.  
  
“But-”  
  
“Oh shut up, trash!” Xanxus snapped at her. “If you hadn't tried to lie like you just did you wouldn't have been left with egg on your shitty face!” Marinette laid a hand on his arm making him look down at her with tender eyes.  
  
“Language, young man.” Mlle Bustier reprimanded.  
  
“French, or would you prefer I speak in another language to get it through this Trash's head that I am not here for her? Either way, I have written permission to take La Mia Coccinella here out of school for the rest of the day. And there's nothing anyone in this shitty school can do about it.”   
  
Marinette stood and got her things together before handing them to Squalo, who took them without complaint as he didn't want to deal with a grumpy Xanxus. As she turned to leave, however, Adrien grabbed her arm.  
  
“Mari, wait. Are you sure you trust these guys? I mean they could have forged your parents signature for all you know. They look the type!” Marinette raised an eyebrow at him. While it was true that they would forge her parents signature, she still trusted Xanxus and Squalo way more then she trusted anybody else in the classroom.   
  
“I trust them. I've known Xanxus since I was six when my family visited Italy for our annual holiday there.” As Marinette spoke she calmly removed Adrien's hand from her arm. Without him noticing, she also removed his Miraculous. She did that so skillfully that nobody in the class noticed what she was doing and as she had stood in a way that blocked all the camera's and reflections, she knew they wouldn't be able to pin anything on her. Tikki had thoughtfully created a false ring and had quickly planted it in his bag so he couldn't even say he lost it if and when he noticed that it was gone.  
  
The three of them left the classroom and snuck into the bakery then up into her room with no difficulty, relaxing only when they reached her room.  
  
“So, I'm guessing you are here because of the DNA results?” Marinette started.  
  
“Partly. I also missed you as you haven't had much time to come visit recently. Anyway, DNA came back as a match for all three which explains some of your abilities, though not where your Sky flames come from. The Sun and Rain in your flames are pretty clear though it's weird that you got those two but not the Storm.” Xanxus admitted softly.  
  
“I think I know why I don't have Storm Flames.” Marinette mused then continued when they looked at her curiously. “You both already know I'm Ladybug. Now the Ladybug represents yin energy so traditionally it's more feminine. In term of its powers, it's creation or good luck. If you then look at Flames and the human traits that stereotypically go with them then Sky, Rain and Sun fit best for a ladybug. They are, after all, leaders, diplomates and healers. You then have the Black Cat which represents yang energy, which is the more masculine side of the energy spectrum traditionally. Power-wise it's destruction and bad luck. Again if you look at flame types that fit you'd probably look for a Lightning or more preferably a Storm as while it would be beneficial if the holder had Sky flames as well the Black Cat doesn't necessarily need to lead.” Marinette suddenly held out her hand to Xanxus, dropping a black ring into it when he held out his hand to take whatever she was trying to hand him.  
  
“Is this...” Xanxus couldn't continue his question. Marinette nodded and Xanxus quickly slipped the ring onto his finger. A black cat version of Tikki appeared with a yawn, then it looked at Marinette.  
  
“Really Spots? You couldn't let me sleep a little longer? Dealing with your previous partner was draining!”   
  
“Plagg!” Tikki flew across the room tackling the cat as she did so. The two spun around slightly much to the amusement of the three humans in the room. Marinette simply disappeared downstairs for a minute then came back with two wheels of camembert and several chocolate chip cookies.   
  
“I'm guessing transforming somebody who is a bad match takes more energy from you which is why you need to eat more.” Marinette mused as she looked at Plagg who just nodded as  
he practically inhaled the first wheel of cheese. He looked at the second wheel and started pulling it apart to eat it more slowly.  
  
“Why did you give me this? Not that I'm not grateful, mind you.” Xanxus asked quietly. Marinette sighed then leaned back.   
  
“Part of why I cut down on my visits and calls is I've been following a lead about who Hawkmoth is. I wanted to get a little bit more evidence, then I was planning on asking you for help. If you want to bring in anybody you trust we can, but I knew that Chat Noir, or as I now know him to be Adrien Agreste, Hawkmoth's son, wouldn't be the back up I needed for this battle. I have a month left of this school term and then I want to move to Italy but to do that I need Hawkmoth and Mayura out of the way. I'm good but I'm not strong enough to face them both at the same time. You trained me so you know that what I'm saying is true. I don't care if they end up dead or not, nor do I want it to be linked back to me but needs must.”  
  
Xanxus was quiet for a moment then he looked at Squalo who nodded and pulled out his phone, dialled a number and spoke rapidly to someone on the other end. Within minutes a shark-like grin had spread across his face. He soon hung up and looked at them again, his voice quiet for once as he didn't want to attract Marinette's parents' attention.  
  
“Mammon is on board. As usual, they had all the information we needed. By this time tomorrow, all of Gabriel will belong to you. Their only condition is that you let him run the books. Voi! Gabriel Agreste has all sorts of illegal activities that we can plant evidence to cover our involvement.”  
  
“What's in this for Mammon? There is no way they did this without thinking of a benefit either to them or the Varia. You don't call them Miser Brat for nothing” Marinette said perceptively.  
  
Xanxus and Squalo exchanged bloodthirsty grins. “Simple. Mammon knows that with you running a fashion company, the Varia will have a cover as to why they are in any country so long as there are fabrics or dyes etc available there. They also know that you won't have an issue with helping to design new uniforms etc for the Varia and that while we will still have to pay for them, you wouldn't charge us nearly as much as what we are currently being charged.”  
  
Marinette laughed and nodded. She couldn't fault that logic at all.  
  
Soon a mist corridor opened into her bedroom and they watched as Mammon joined them.  
  
“Mu, that man has made the worst choices when he chose his business partners but that works in our favour. Here's the evidence you'll need when you go in. You'll find the body of his wife in a cryo chamber but I'm not sure if she's alive or not. Either way, I suggest pulling the plug on the machine it's a waste of time. Here are the building plans and here is where each person will be at exactly 02H00 which will be the best time to do this.” Having said their piece, Mammon turned round to head back to whatever they were doing originally. Marinette scrambled but managed to hand Mammon the three strawberry macarons that she had been keeping for them. Mammon nodded to her in thanks, then vanished.   
  
The three of them and the two Kwamis spent the rest of the afternoon planning what needed to be done. They traded ideas of how they could get in and out. Eventually, they decided the easiest way was to lend Squalo of his own. The question was then, which miraculous would be best. In the end, Marinette got fed up with all the back and forth and opened the miracle box, getting all the Kwami's to come out and let them choose among them who would work with him. Eventually, it was Long who chose to work with the loud Rain and the two withdrew a little so that they could get to know one another.   
  
“Since the plan is pretty much set, do you want to get to know Plagg a little before you transform?” Marinette asked Xanxus with a small smile.  
  
“Sure but first I want to make sure that you are ok with what I did in front of your class. I didn't give you any warning so...” Xanxus trailed off in uncertainty. Marinette smiled at him, she had never seen him so unsure of anything and he seemed so uncomfortable and dare she say nervous? It was very out of character for him.  
  
“Xanxus, you gave me a chance to avoid your kiss but I didn't. I wanted you to kiss me, I have for a while now. I don't care that you normally have a gutter mouth and that you never watch what you say. I don't care about who your parents are either. Hell, you could still live in the same circumstances that you did when I first met you and I'd still accept you for you. Plagg accepted you as fast as he did because he realised that you are my true equal yet opposite.” Marinette walked forward and kneeled in front of Xanxus before reaching up to cup his scarred cheek, which he half leaned into. “Xan we've known each other for ten years give or take a few months. You know how to read what I want, don't start doubting yourself now.”  
  
Xanxus smiled at her and leaned forward to kiss her. Unfortunately, the kiss didn't happen as a voice rang out from the trap door that leads into Marinette's room.  
  
“Marinette! There are some people here to see you.” Marinette looked at her mother, then sighed and stood up and walked over to see who it was. Just as she was about to tell Xanxus what was going on the voices from below floated up the stairs and he nodded in understanding. He signed that he would keep an ear on the situation in case but that he wouldn't come down and this time it was Marinette who nodded in agreement before walking down the stairs.  
  
“Well, I'm here what's up?” She asked in a cool voice, showing that she hadn't forgiven them for what they had said in the classroom.  
  
“A couple of things,” Alya said tensely. “Adrien says you stole his ring.”  
  
“Why would I do that? If I wanted a signet ring I would buy one, or better yet have one made.”  
  
“Well, he's saying it was on his hand and now it isn't.”  
  
“Did he check his bag properly? Or maybe it's still on his bedside table and he just forgot to put it on this morning. Or is this going to be another situation where I'm accused without evidence, or worse planted evidence again? I know you were on my side last time Alya but considering your attitude about what I said in class today I wouldn't be surprised if you think I'd do what you are accusing me of.”  
  
“Well considering your crush on Adrien-” Marinette cut Alya off by bursting into gales of laughter.  
  
“You think... A crush... On Adrien?” Marinette gasped out between peels of laughter. “Girl... Have you seen the gorgeous man that kissed me in class today? You know Tall, dark and broody with red eyes? That's who I have the crush on. Not Adrien.” Marinette was still laughing but she had managed to pull herself together enough to talk.   
  
Sabine paused as she was walking passed. “Tall, dark and broody with red eyes? Do you mean Xanxus? Well, I suppose you could do worse than him, at least he can protect himself and those around him. I don't like his swearing but it's consistent so there's that. I'm guessing he's finally confessed that the feeling is mutual and that's why you were talking about moving to Italy?”  
  
“Wait, what?” Alya, Nino and the others who had tagged along chorused.   
  
“Well, I've been wanting to move there for a while as we are part Italian and I have lots of friends there already. Luss was talking about joining me with sorting out my own fashion line as she's such a fashionista anyway so why not? Besides I want a break from having to keep my emotions under control at all times.” Marinette said with a shrug. “I'll finish up the school year here then head over to Italy to complete the rest of my education. My housing has already been sorted as has where I will be getting my education and how it will be paid for.”   
  
Everyone in the room stared at Marinette, some in horror others in surprise.   
  
Eventually, Sabine nodded, “This is something you've been thinking about since we told you about my birth isn't it?”   
  
“Nope. I've been wanting to move to Italy for years as I've always felt happiest when we were there. I won't lie and say your story didn't help cement the decision but it was not a factor when I started planning the move. I'm sure you've noticed that I've been packing most of my things into boxes and that it's mostly just the stuff that I need for commissions that's still out.”  
  
Sabine nodded slowly and the class could see that she was thinking about something.  
  
“I'll talk to your father, even if you won't be staying with us I think we will move too. Hawkmoth has spoiled Paris for us and you're right our whole family is generally happier in Italy.”  
  
Marinette smiled and handed her mother a card. Sabine looked at what was on it and nodded then walked away. Marinette's class, on the other hand, was stunned. Marinette was planning on moving to Italy? Did she even speak the language? Adrien spoke the question out loud when it became clear that no-one else was going to speak up.  
  
“Yes, I do speak Italian, along with quite a few others too. I'm still learning a few but I'm fluent in all the ones that are special to me. I won't answer which those are other than Italian and French, so don't ask.”  
  
The class was so thrown by everything they had just learned that they didn't even think of continuing what they had originally come to the Bakery to do. They also didn't notice the envelope that had been sitting on the table the whole time that was marked as coming from the Department of Education. She swiped it and padded back up to her room, smiling as she entered and saw Squlo deep in conversation with Longg still and Xanxus just as deep in a conversation with Plagg. Shrugging she walked over the blueprints of the Agreste household and memorised them, as well as all the notes Mammon had left for them.   
  
Half an hour later there was a knock at her trap door and Sabine poked her head through.  
  
“Marinette?”  
  
“Yes, Maman?”  
  
“What was that letter from the Department of Education about?”  
  
“Oh! I forgot you didn't know. I paid to take my school leavers exams early and had Mlle. Mendeleiev watch me take them while we were in classes. She made sure that it looked like I was taking notes at the back as punishment and any practices were done after school. She made them really fun, unlike the class ones, too! Anyway, the letter was my results as well as a letter saying they would be launching an investigation into the school and staff. They also offered their congratulation for some of the highest marks they have ever seen.”   
  
When the kwamis had dropped down to hide from view Squlo and Xanxus had looked towards the trapdoor as well as staring to listen in, however when Sabine hadn't noticed them they had relaxed a little. As soon as Sabine vanished again they looked at Marinette before Squalo spoke.  
  
“Voi! Why didn't she see us sitting here? It's not like we hid!” As Xanxus looked just as confused Marinette gave a small giggle before explaining.  
  
“Trixx is the Fox Kwami and one of his special abilities is to cast illusions much like a Mist would. Maman didn't see you because Trixx hid you.”  
  
“Makes sense,” was all Xanxus said before leaning back slightly. “Congrats on your exam results, what made you take them here verses at the academy?”  
  
“I don't know what name I'll be enrolled under while there so I will probably fudge my results for any test I take there. I don't want anyone looking at me too hard as it could lead to questions about my bloodlines. It's bad enough that I'm going to have to hide my flame type as much as possible. I refuse to let the idiots there think that I'm a broodmare!”  
  
The two males thought back to their experiences at the academy and nodded. That is what would happen if she let her flame slip. Xanxus almost growled as he pulled her into his arms and held her possessively. Marinette smiled while Squalo just rolled his eyes, grateful that he'd been quick enough to record the conversation to show Donna Daniela when they got home! Heck, none of Xanxus's brothers would believe that he was acting like this.   
  
Xanxus and Marinette spent the rest of the time before they launched the assault on Hawkmoth and Mayura ironing out the details of who would do what and cuddling with each other. Xanxus was of the opinion that since Marinette was going to be living at the Varia headquarters, she needed to be blooded. She was reluctant but knew that she had the best person with her when she had the inevitable reaction as well as the best people with her to pull this mission off.  
  
All too soon it was 01H45 and they decided to transform and get into position. Squalo had brought thermal vision goggles with him so that they could confirm everyone's positions. Tikki had recommended that in order to be more stealthy Marinette should use a unified transformation of Trixx and herself, with Trixx using a black fox as inspiration instead of an orange one. Xanxus would go in with a unified version of Pollon and Plagg as well so that they had as many bases and contingencies covered as possible.   
  
They moved as stealthily as possible without sacrificing too much speed and soon the deed was done. Marinette kept hold of her reactions until they had finished everything they needed to finish. All of the scrolls had been collected, as had the Miraculous Grimoire. They had also found several journals and flash drives with everything backed upon them which they took as well. Finally, with Nathalie and Mr Agreste dead, the peacock and butterfly pins retrieved and all the evidence that Mammon had found about Mr Agreste dirty deads planted the three of them slipped out of the house and went back to Marinette's room.  
  
It didn't take long for Marinette to start trembling and soon she had emptied her stomach into a bucket that Squalo had managed to track down. She knew that she wasn't cut out for doing that more often and she said as much as soon as she had gained enough control of herself to be able to speak again. Squalo and Xanxus had assured her that she wouldn't have to unless it was to protect herself or her family which made Marinette nod. Eventually, she fell asleep in Xanxus's arms, no match for the exhaustion that she was feeling despite everything.  
  
By the time Monday morning arrived, the news of Mr Agreste and his assistant Nathalie being assassinated was all over the news. Adrien had been pulled out of school by the police and CPS as he was being interviewed to see how much he knew about his father's dealings. As the staff had been the ones to find Mr Agreste and Nathalie, it had caused multiple red flags to show for the investigators. So far he was in the clear for that but Adrien's attitude was not making things easy.   
  
The whole school was gossiping about what could have happened and what it would mean for Adrien as well as for anyone who worked for Gabriel, the brand. Despite the class trying to push Marinette for an opinion about what had happened, she stayed quiet. Marinette had spoken to her parents the previous day and they had agreed that that Monday could be her last day, so while everyone else was gossiping, Marinette had been making sure that she had packed away everything that she owned that she had brought to school. This included all of her things from the art room, though she had very little there due to her worrying about her designs being vandalised. Eventually, her class had remembered about Adrien's ring going missing but according to Nino, he had been in the park with Adrien and had seen the ring in Adrien's bag so they dropped the topic fairly quickly.  
  
When they had walked into science, Marinette had handed Mlle. Mendeleiev a copy of her test results and had watched as the stern teacher's face had split into a broad grin. This, of course, had made the class demand to know what was on the sheet of paper that she was holding but Mlle. Mendeleiev had stayed quiet as had Marinette when they tried asking her. By the time the end of the day arrived Marinette was exhausted from dodging her classmates and Lila however just before the bell rang, Marinette decided to be particularly vindictive. Mlle Bustier had chosen that moment to ask her to give the class a pep talk of sorts for the upcoming exam and had been nice enough to say that Marinette could leave straight after she'd had her say. Marinette hid a smirk that wouldn't have looked out of place on Xanxus's face as she grabbed her bag that was full to bursting and walked to the front of the class.  
  
“I know many of you have studied hard and will doubtless do your best on these tests so to those who actually have put the effort in 'Good Luck.' For those of you that haven't studied, I hope you get a wake-up call. You can't coast through life on the coattails of anyone else nor should you try using someone else's supposed connections to famous people in the field you want to work in. To believe everything you are told without double-checking your facts is a surefire way to fail. Wake-up and realise that the world doesn't owe you anything and that your actions are your own. If you make a mistake, own up and move on. Over the past two years, I have watched as you have all become more and more reliant on one person for everything to the detriment of everything else. I hope you wake up before it's too late for you.”  
  
The class' jaw's dropped as Marinette spoke and Mlle Bustier looked just as horrified, however, Marinette took no notice of the anger on her ex-classmates faces. She turned and walked out the door for the last time and ignored the chaos behind her. She had a new life to look forward to in Italy and while she hadn't been pushed out in the way Lila wanted she firmly felt that she had outgrown her classmates and their treatment of her. She truly did wish them well but they were no longer her problem and she intended to keep them where they belonged: In her past!  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * *   
  
Marinette had been in Italy for a year when she met Reborn for the first time. He had arrived at Varia headquarters to visit Mammon and she had been visiting Mammon to go over the books for Miracle Fashions, the rebranded version of Gabriel. She had noticed a couple of inconsistencies when she had tried to order certain fabrics and wanted Mammon to check if there was anything there that shouldn't be. Reborn had walked in without knocking or even announcing himself much to Mammon's disgust. However, that disgust had soon turned to amusement as Reborn had frozen in his tracks at the familiar feeling of the flames in the room. He knew he hadn't visited in over three years so any flames that had escaped his firm control should be long gone, yet he could feel an echo of them in the room. He slowly looked around and eventually, his eyes landed on the young woman that was sitting opposite of his friend and realised that she was where he could feel his flames coming from.  
  
“Explain,” Reborn demanded tersely. Mammon was glad he had cameras in his office as he handed Reborn the DNA test that they had ordered over a year ago. Reborn's eyes had widened and he had looked from the sheets in his hands to the young woman and back again repeatedly.   
  
“How?” He even croaked out.  
  
“Verde.” The young woman said softly as though it explained everything and truth be told it did. Reborn nodded.  
  
“Your name is Marinette?” She nodded and he sighed, “how long have you known?”  
  
“Mom told me about the unique circumstances of her birth on the evening of my sixteenth birthday which was just over a year ago. I called Xanxus and he got Luss and Mammon to run my DNA to confirm everything. So um, congrats it's a girl and she gave you a grandchild already, I guess.”  
  
Reborn remained silent, unable to remember what he was visiting Mammon for. When he spoke again there was a slight tremor in his voice. “Do Fon and Colonnello know yet?” Both Mammon and Marinette shook their heads before Mammon got a wicked gleam in their eyes and they opened two mist corridors. One under each of the other unknowing grandfathers. When Colonnello's corridor spat him out he landed in a slight heap Fon, however, landed neatly on his feet. They both turned to look at Mammon after taking a quick look around the room.  
  
“What the hell, kora?” Colonnello yelled even as he registered his own eyes looking at him curiously out of a female's face. Fon didn't say anything but he did raise an eyebrow in agreement. Mammon looked at Reborn who handed the DNA test result over to Fon who read them quickly and handed them to Colonnello in turn. Colonnello was quiet as he read the results then he sighed. “I want to ask how, kora, but I know I probably won't like the answer.” He turned and faced Marinette, looking at her properly this time instead of doing a threat assessment. “You have my eyes and I can sense Reborns and my own flames in you. I can also tell you are flame active and are trying to keep a firm hold of your flames out of respect for us. I would like to feel them properly though, kora.”  
  
“Are you absolutely sure?” Marinette asked cautiously, looking at all four people in the room and receiving nods in return. She sighed and closed her eyes then as she released her breath, she loosened her control of her flames enough for everyone to be able to feel them properly, but not enough to make them uncomfortable. All three stared at her in shock.  
  
“You're a Sky, Kora?”   
  
“Yes,” Marinette replied simply before reigning in her flames. Suddenly she froze “What-?”  
  
“Oh!” came three gasps from her grandfathers. “You had openings for Guardians?” Fon asked calmly even as he checked his flames to confirm the completely unexpected harmonisation.  
  
“I left France a year ago without any guardians and it hasn't been my main priority to have those positions filled if I'm honest,” Marinette explained quietly, still in awe of what she was feeling.   
  
The three of them nodded. “Tell us everything you feel comfortable telling us, kora.”  
  
So she did. They relocated to a different room so that Mammon could get back to work, then they spent the rest of the day swapping stories about what they had done, where they had been and what they hoped for. Generally getting to know one another. It would take time for them to share some of the more personal stories but it was a start and that's all they could ask for.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
On Marinette's twenty-first Birthday Xanxus finally proposed. The ring was something that he had taken a lot of time choosing as he'd wanted it to be perfect. He had several criteria that the ring had to fit and nothing that was commercially available had met all of them. Eventually, he had caved and spoken to his Nonna who had taken him to visit Tabalt. The end result was a platinum ring inlaid with a princess cut Argyl pink diamond flanked by two stunning dark blue tanzanites. The band itself was engraved with vines that seemed to twist and grow around the ring as the angle of the light changed. Most importantly for Xanxus, however, was the fact that any edge that would normally cause a ring inlaid with stones to catch or snag on fabric was missing, meaning that Marinette didn't have to take it off when she was sowing a design.  
  
The wedding had been as private as they could make it when they took into account all the different people that needed to be invited and the reception was as lavish as could be with Xanxus going all out to make sure his new bride had everything she had always dream about. Her dress had made his jaw hit the floor both with its simplicity and its beauty. She had paid tribute to her Chinese heritage by wearing red however the dress itself had a simple sheath rounded neck in the front that plunged to a beautiful cowl at the back. Marinette's veil was ivory coloured and was edged in gold Venetian lace that complimented the dress perfectly. Xanxus hadn't been able to keep his eyes off of her from the second he saw her and the pair of them couldn't have been happier.  
  
As far as they were concerned, they were the luckiest people alive. After all, how could they not be when the kwami of creation blessed your wedding?


End file.
